Resources: disability services

The hectic, uncertain spring 2020 semester is now over, and schools across the country are adapting to a new normal – one in which online education is increasingly a part of many programs. Disability support offices strive to support faculty and staff while ensuring that education remains equitable and accessible for all students.

From finding face masks to facing unknown details for fall semester, disability services professionals at hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities are finding unique ways to serve deaf college students, faculty, and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new semester can be overwhelming, but NDC is here with you. NDC can help streamline procedures to enhance disability services offices working with deaf students, with guides to help you build request forms, create a student absence policy and more.

Here are five commonly requested resources for disability services professionals. Visit nationaldeafcenter.org/dsptoolkit for a complete list of related resources, or reach out to help@nationaldeafcenter.org for personalized assistance.

Veteran’s Day reminds Americans to be grateful to every person who has worn a military uniform and fought for our safety and security. We also should be reminded of our responsibility to create opportunity for the more than 37,000 deaf veterans enrolled as students in colleges and universities throughout the United States. 

September is National Preparedness Month. The 2019 theme, “Prepared, Not Scared”, is a good reminder that this is an ideal time to think about emergency planning and your school's readiness to respond — in particularly for your deaf students. Are warning systems and communication plans accessible to everyone? Here is a variety of strategies and tools to incorporate into your college's emergency plan that ensures deaf people have access to critical information. 

The National Deaf Center is proud to participate in AHEAD 2019, the annual international conference of the Association on Higher Education and Disability on July 9-13 in Boston, Massachusetts.